How fortunate that I have been reading about the Blair family and their connections - this is Samuel Phillips Lee, United States Navy Rear Admiral, a distant cousin to Robert E. Lee.
Acting Rear Admiral S. Phillips Lee, a (third, I think?) cousin of Robert E. Lee (this photo shows the resemblance, I think). Overshadowed, perhaps unfairly so, by more famous naval officers, Lee was extremely competent and one of the best organizers in the upper echelons of the Union Navy. Published bio: Cornish, Dudley Taylor and Laas, Virginia Jeans. Lincoln's Lee: The Life Of Samuel Phillips Lee, United States Navy, 1812-1897. Lawrence, Kans.: Univ. Press of Kansas, 1986. 187 pp.
Lee, Samuel Phillips: (1812-1897; Commander, Captain, Acting Rear Admiral) For the command of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron; for the reorganization of the blockade of Wilmington; for the command of the Mississippi Squadron.
Google first named Franklin Buchanan and I was inclined to take it as a photo of a somewhat younger Buchanan, I only knew the one where he is sitting in a chair being in, let's say, his best years. But then ta daaa... I found the real guy!
It is Union Navy Rear Admiral Samuel Phillips Lee !
Third cousin of Robert E. Lee he is proof that the good looks of both men must have come from the Lee side of the family.
I can only imagine how many broken hearts that dashing young Captain must have left behind in the ports around the world when sailing away again ...
Lee, Samuel Phillips: (1812-1897; Commander, Captain, Acting Rear Admiral) For the command of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron; for the reorganization of the blockade of Wilmington; for the command of the Mississippi Squadron. http://users.wowway.com/~jenkins/ironclads/halloffame.htm